Inclusive Pathways to the PhD Administrators Summit

8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: Registration and Networking Breakfast, MIT Welcome Center Lobby (E38)
Start the day by connecting with fellow participants over breakfast. This informal gathering is a warm welcome and an early opportunity to meet institutional partners, MIT faculty, administrators, and colleagues from across the Leadership Alliance network before the day’s programming begins.

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM: Opening Welcome & Day Orientation, MIT Welcome Center Auditorium (E38)
Join us for a welcome from MIT administration and summit leadership as we frame the two-day experience, reflect on the progress and partnerships built since our 2024 convening, and set the stage for the collaborative work ahead. This opening session grounds our shared purpose and charts the path forward.

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Legacy of Purpose: “From Summer Research to Doctoral Success: Sustaining Pathways Through Institutional Partnership,” MIT Welcome Center Auditorium (E38)
Join a dynamic panel discussion and moderated roundtable featuring academic administrators from Leadership Alliance institutions, current First Year Research Experience scholars, and MSRP alumni. Drawing on themes from Legacy of Purpose, panelists will share institutional strategies and student experiences on how collaborative partnerships create sustainable pathways to graduate education and research careers. This interactive session explores shared values, the role of summer research in building student confidence and belonging, professional development models, and what it takes to build institutional partnerships that endure and create meaningful change.

10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Break (Transition to Hacker Reactor, E38 – 7th Floor)

10:15 AM – 11:15 AM: Enhancing Undergraduate Research Pathways: Preparing Students for Graduate Admission (E38 – 7th Floor)

This workshop equips institutional administrators and leaders with the knowledge, frameworks, and practical tools needed to effectively prepare undergraduate students for graduate admission and research careers. Drawing on national trends, research literature, and data-driven insights from the field, this session moves beyond theory to offer concrete, actionable strategies that administrators can bring back to their institutions and implement immediately. At its core, this workshop is about building the conditions for student success, understanding what graduate programs are looking for, identifying the gaps that prevent otherwise qualified students from competitive applications, and designing the kinds of interventions that measurably change outcomes.

11:15 AM – 12:00 PM: The MLK Scholars Program: A Partnership for Transformative Access and Research (E38 – 7th Floor)

What does it mean to truly expand access to a research university and who gets to define what research looks like? This session challenges administrators, faculty, and institutional leaders to think expansively about the kinds of scholars, questions, and forms of knowledge that belong inside our most prestigious research institutions. Using the MIT MLK Visiting Scholars Program as a model, this session explores what becomes possible when universities extend genuine invitation, not just to traditional academics, but to artists, activists, journalists, and cultural thinkers whose work illuminates the human experience in ways no laboratory alone can capture.

Through the lens of an active MLK Visiting Scholars project, attendees will explore the structure and spirit of the program, the mechanics of meaningful scholar-host partnerships, and the kinds of outputs and impact that emerge when institutions invest in unconventional but visionary work. This session argues that the most transformative partnerships are often the ones that expand our very definition of what scholarship is and who it is for.

12:00 PM – 12:45 PM: Networking Lunch (E38 – 7th Floor)

12:45 PM – 1:00 PM: Student Presentation: SCORSU: A National Study on Politics, Perception, and the Graduate Education Pipeline,(E38 – 7th Floor)

At a moment when the political landscape is shifting rapidly and unpredictably, a critical question demands our attention: What are students feeling and what does it mean for the future of the graduate education pipeline? SCORSU is a timely and important study designed to examine how the current political climate is shaping students’ attitudes, confidence, and intentions toward graduate education and research career pathways. As federal policies, public discourse, and institutional environments continue to evolve, understanding how these forces are influencing the students we serve has never been more urgent or more necessary.

This session will introduce attendees to the SCORSU study, its purpose, its methodology, and its early findings , and explore what the data is telling us about how students from underserved backgrounds are navigating uncertainty, reassessing their ambitions, and making decisions about their futures in real time.

1:00 PM – 1:50 PM: Community Think Tank Sessions: Co-Creating Bidirectional Partnerships (E38 – 7th Floor)
The Community Think Tank Sessions are working sessions designed for action. Small groups (8–10 people) bring together MIT faculty, administrators, and researchers with institutional partners to co-develop tangible collaborations across four key areas: research partnerships and faculty exchanges, institutional capacity building and knowledge exchange, sustainable funding models, and mentorship networks. Participants will leave with concrete action plans, clear timelines, and written partnership agreements defining scope, mutual benefits, and next steps. Collaborations emerging from these sessions may also be eligible for funding support from the Office of Graduate Education, making this an opportunity to not only build meaningful cross-institutional partnerships, but to bring them to life.

1:50 PM – 2:00 PM: Closing Wrap Up (E38 – 7th Floor)

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM: MSRP 40th Anniversary Gala (MIT Media Lab, Bldg E14 – 6th Floor)

9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Keynote Breakfast and Formal Program (Samberg Conference Center, 7th Floor)

10:45 AM – 11:30 AM: MSRP Poster Session I (Samberg Conference Center, 6th Floor)

11:45 AM – 12:30 PM: MSRP Poster Session II (Samberg Conference Center, 6th Floor)

12:30 PM -12:45 PM: Break and Transition to Tang Center

12:45 PM – 2:30 PM: Lunch and Short Film: MSRP Through the Decades (Tang Center, Wong Auditorium)

2:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Closing (Tang Center, Wong Auditorium)

Your travel has been booked by MIT Corporate Traveler and should have received your itinerary and flight/train confirmation by email. If you need to make any changes or have any questions regarding your travel confirmation please contact mit@corporatetraveler.us and copy graddiversity@mit.edu.

During your time at MIT, we have secured lodging at the Boston Marriott Cambridge, across the street from MIT’s campus. From views of the Boston skyline to a stroll along the Charles River, immerse yourself in New England’s charm during your stay at this hotel right in Kendall Square.

Please view the meeting deck here.